Nottingham Medieval Studies

This introduction provides a short description of the emergence of the Reformed Orders in the early twelfth century, the background of the publication, and a summary of the twelve articles included in the volume. A review of the historiography concerning both Orders points to a renewal of knowledge in the fields involved due to a reconsideration of sources and of progress in archaeology dating techniques. Attention is then drawn to the main themes discussed: borders or frontiers as spaces for religious foundations; filiation between hermitages and abbeys; episcopal acceptance vs rejection of the Reformed Orders; the ‘desert’ vs ‘central places’ as a choice for religious settlements; interregionalism vs regionalism. The collection sets out to open new perspectives through a decompartmentalization of monastic studies and the inclusion of border areas - Brittany, Scandinavia, and Wales in particular. Its aim is to encourage a questioning of prevalent myths concerning the history of monasteries and of religious orders in Western Europe in the Middle Ages.

The theme of ‘origins’ is vital for an understanding of the roots of the Orders of Cistercians and Regular Canons, exemplified here as Premonstratensians. Bernard of Clairvaux and Norbert of Xanten conceived of Reform as a return to the origins of Christianity, not as a change. The common yearnings of the two Orders for purity is stressed while their contrasting approaches are illustrated by the metaphor of Jerusalem. For the monks of Cîteaux who focused mainly on spiritual matters - without completely excluding the outside world - it was heavenly while the followers of Norbert aimed to recreate an earthly Jerusalem at Prémontré.

Even though Cistercian preaching was exceptional, on at least three occasions, Aelred of Rievaulx preached at Synods. The abundant literature on Aelred lacks an in-depth analysis of these texts. This article aims to answer the question why a Cistercian abbot was invited to preach in an assembly of secular priests and bishops and focuses on the longest of Aelred’s synodal sermons, directed to the clergy at the synod of Troyes (ad clerum in synodo Trecensi). A discussion of the misattribution of this sermon is followed by an analysis of Aelred’s argumentation, This brings to light his unwillingness to abandon basic moral values, a dimension of his character that has so far been ignored, as historical research has often wrongly presented him as a gentle, always indulgent abbot.

The article explores the cult of saints in medieval Cistercian communities in England using the evidence from the statutes of the Cistercian General Chapter. While the article explains the significance of different types of saints that were added to the liturgical calendars of English Cistercian houses, it also shows how it was part of order-wide practices. The poor survival of evidence from the monasteries themselves is compensated by the documents from the centre of the order, with contextualization, that can significantly broaden perspective on the Cistercian engagement with the cult of saints and its place in the monastic culture.

This article offers a reappraisal of the Cistercians in Wales and the Welsh border and evaluates how recent scholarship has informed our understanding of their place in Welsh society and culture. It begins with a discussion of the coming of the Cistercians to Wales and moves on to a number of areas which are currently being reconsidered and revaluated by scholars: the place of houses of Cistercian women in their local context and within the Order; Cistercian interaction with their patrons; and cultural production. This is a study of Cistercians in a particular area, a microcosm of the Order, and addresses how the White Monks accommodated the demands of the Order within the region’s physical environment, and its social and economic conditions.

This article discusses the foundation process of the Cistercian monasteries in Denmark, Sweden, and Norway from the perspective of the contemporary cultural landscape, focusing on the location of the buildings in connection with communication routes, settlements, and power centres. Contrary to what has often been assumed, isolation and solitude were not the factors that determined the choice of location of the abbeys. The relationships between Cistercians and local authorities reflected in the material culture are also discussed. From the period in question, the number of preserved visual sources is considerably larger than that of remaining written records, thus providing valuable additional information about the early expansion of the White Monks on the edge of Europe.

In the twelfth century, the religious Reformed Orders, Cistercians, and Regular Canons, settled in Normandy. The result, after two decades, is surprising: by 1146, there were seventeen communities of Regular Canons but only four Cistercian abbeys. In this essay the reasons for the discrepancy are investigated, including the role of the Archbishop of Rouen, Hugh of Amiens († 1164). The development of both Orders is then examined. Starting in the mid-twelfth century, the Cistercians began incorporating abbeys which were already in existence, as a way to foster growth, while for Regular Canons, the main question is that of choice between the orders of Saint-Victor and Prémontré.

In its 1202 foundation charter, Notre-Dame de Beauport (O.Praem.) was granted the right of patronage of nineteen churches spread over the dioceses of Dol, Saint-Brieuc, Tréguier, and Lincoln. The number of churches controlled by Beauport eventually increased to twenty-eight. The Rolls and Registers of the bishops of Lincoln give evidence that the jus patronatus of the Abbot of Beauport represented by the Prior of Ravendale was generally respected. Surprisingly violent conflicts - mostly arbitrated by popes or their legates - arose, however, between the Abbey and the Breton bishops about the apppointment of incumbents. This article suggests that the cultural and linguistic divide between the local bilingual (Romance/ Breton) aristocracy and the abbots of Beauport, who were usually of Norman origin, might provide an explanation for such clashes.

After 1137, when the abbey of Mortemer, founded three years earlier, was incorporated into the Order of Cîteaux, twenty-three other Cistercian abbeys were created in Normandy, either as new foundations or through incorporation into the Order. Most notable is the incorporation of Savigny, with its numerous daughters. The abbeys were located in five dioceses, namely Rouen, Évreux, Bayeux, Sées, and Avranches but there were no Cistercian houses in the dioceses of Coutances and Lisieux. Thanks to topographical surveys, carried out during the past five years, it has been possible to draw precise maps which shed light upon the reasons of the choices made for the location of these abbeys, particularly as far as landscape and water-supply are concerned. Despite the fact that more than two thirds no longer possess an above-ground wing, it is still possible to draw conclusions about features of Cistercian architecture in Normandy, using as points of reference the sites of the abbeys of Mortemer, Bonport and Fontaine-Guérard.

Saint-Victor of Paris is an abbey of Regular Canons established in 1113 in the vicinity of Sainte-Geneviève mountain. This abbey was soon endowed with a number of small priories so as to facilitate the supervision of a scattered patrimony and/or the organization of worship in parish churches in the area between Senlis and Orléans. The sixteen priories of Saint-Victor were under the supervision of the Abbey and are located within the royal domain. Regular Canons lived in priories which were either built ex nihilo, which is unusual, or more commonly restored. In fact, the community was granted several churches built in the eleventh century. This article aims to take stock of the remains of the Victorine priories in order to gain a better understanding of religious settlements and of the evolution of their buildings. The sources are both historical and archaeological. Is the architecture of the priories inspired by that of the mother abbey? What phases of construction and development of priories can be distinguished? Further investigations are needed to solve these questions.

When Cistercian architecture began opening up to modernity, sobriety made way for elements comparable to those of secular and non-reformed Benedictine architecture. Large chevets, complete with an ambulatory and radiating chapels, that began with the abbey church at Clairvaux, spread to other locations such as Royaumont, Moreruela and Alcobaça. Grand chevets with an ambulatory and multiple rectangular chapels grew in popularity. The delay in the incorporation of such features in the ecclesiastical architecture of Brittany has often been attributed to the supposed isolation of the Armorican peninsula. This article describes the characteristics and chronology of the implantation of the White monks in ducal Brittany and, through an analysis of various characteristics of Cistercian religious architecture in the area, concludes that the choices made regarding tradition and modernity were deliberate.

This article investigates the beginnings of Gothic architecture in England, Scotland, and Wales. It argues against the popular notion of the Cistercians as ‘Missionaries of Gothic’ and presents other associations with the early Gothic of northern France. For the north of England, it is suggested that the key figure is Roger of Pont L’Évêque, Archbishop of York between 1154 and 1181 with the eastern arm of his cathedral and his palace at York and Ripon Minster. His work was emulated in the early 1160s at Nidaros Cathedral Trondheim (Norway) and St Andrew’s Cathedral (Fife). In the south of England, the nave of the Temple Church, London, before 1161, and closely related Hospital Church of St John’s Clerkenwell, have the earliest connections with early Gothic France, whilst the crossing of Benedictine Boxgrove Priory has octofoil piers also characteristic of analogous associations. In the west of England Cistercian Dore and Flaxley introduce elements associated with the regional school of Gothic architecture but current research indicates that Augustinian Keynsham abbey was the Gothic pioneer in the region.

This article traces the provenance of two late-fifteenth-century Flemish painted panels depicting the Procession to the Calvary and the Resurrection of Christ, which have been assembled in a nineteenth-century composite work known as the Paimpol Triptych from Beauport Abbey. A review of local, regional, and national documentation suggests that the two wings may have been painted by an artist with connections to the Hans Memling studio in Bruges. An examination of the two wings compared to the Salvatori Mundi and the Triptych of the Resurrection by Hans Memling (c. 1430/1440-1494) reveals striking similarities. Furthermore, the discovery of an ‘ermine tail’ with an upper fleur-de-lis motif and crown, a motif associated with Anne of Brittany (1477-1514), and Queen of France, in the Resurrection scene raises intriguing questions about the works’ commission and patronage.